Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life

by Susan David

Here’s how a random thought can turn into a persistent hook: Internal Chatterbox + Technicolor Thought Blending + Emotional Punch = Hooked 1. It starts when we listen to our Internal Chatterbox . . . I haven’t spent any mother-daughter time with Jane for a few days. I’m just not around enough. I need to be with her more. But how do I manage that with everything I’ve got going on at work? I just can’t keep up. Michelle Smith seems to have the time to create special moments with her daughter. She’s such a good mother. She really has her priorities straight. What’s wrong with me? I’ve got it all wrong. 2. Thanks to Technicolor Thought Blending, the chatter mixes with memories, visual images, and symbols . . . Just look at my little girl. She’s growing up so fast. I can almost smell the snack my mother used to make for me when I got home from school. I should bake treats for Jane. I can already see her, graduated from high school and leaving home—with that no-good Ricky Petersen!—and hating me. Why is this client emailing me about work on a Saturday? I’m going to give that jerk a piece of my mind right now. And NO, JANE. I CAN’T TAKE YOU SHOPPING. WHAT PART OF “I HAVE TO WORK” DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND? 3. Add the Emotional Punch . . . I can’t believe I just snapped like that at my beloved child. I feel so guilty. I’m going to die alone because my daughter hates me. I used to love my job, but now I hate it; it’s robbing me of my family time. I’m a rotten, miserable failure. My lif...